Peer education and its effects on the beliefs of rape myths

Research has found that there is a relationship between men\u27s acceptance of rape myths and violence against women (Malamuth, 1989). These stereotypical ideas about rape, rape victims, and rapists, perpetuate rape. Peer education may play a beneficial part in teaching students about rape, and is the primary focus of this study. The hypothesis of this study was that the rape myth prevention intervention would reduce the beliefs in myths about rape. The intervention, or informative lecture that was given to the experimental group was a derivative of material geared towards high school students. In summary, this research study succeeded to statistically indicate that the intervention had an affect on the beliefs of rape myths. Further, the research study indicated statistically that female participants held weaker rape-supportive attitudes before and after any intervention. Although the intervention deemed significance, further research is necessary to reevaluate whether peer education interventions are effective for reducing rape myths and subsequent rape